Every organization I’ve ever worked in had the same org chart problem: the boxes were real and the lines weren’t. Operations knew things finance found out about in month-end close. Compliance knew things operations discovered in an audit finding. Everyone was doing their job; the organization was still surprised by itself.
I came up through the private sector — intern to COO at a market research firm — and the lesson that stuck wasn’t about research. It was that the work flows sideways while the accountability flows up. Any organization that only manages the vertical lines will be permanently surprised by the horizontal ones.
What that means in practice
Now I run a regional transit authority and oversee a statewide medical transportation brokerage — operations, finance, compliance, technology, and vendor networks, answerable to a board and to state agencies. High-accountability, high-compliance, zero appetite for surprises. Here’s what “systems, not silos” actually looks like day to day:
One integrated view, or no view. If ridership, farebox, vendor performance, and complaints live in four different spreadsheets owned by four different people, you don’t have four views — you have none. The first modernization dollar always goes to making the data spine connect.
The operating rhythm is the management system. Clear metrics, a standing cadence, and straightforward communication beat any reorganization. People don’t need more meetings; they need to know which numbers matter, when they’ll be looked at, and what happens when one goes red.
Trust and standards are the same policy. I expect a lot from my team and I back them fully — those aren’t in tension, they’re the same move. High standards without support is just pressure. Support without standards is just comfort. Neither one builds an organization people are proud of.
Walk the horizontal lines yourself. The most valuable thing a chief executive can know is how the work actually moves between departments — not how the org chart says it moves. That knowledge only comes from being in the work, which is where I intend to stay.
Why it matters in public service
A private company that stays siloed loses margin. A public agency that stays siloed loses trust — riders wait for buses that were never dispatched, members miss medical appointments, boards get surprised in public session. The stakes are people’s lives running on time.
That’s the thesis. Nothing about it is complicated. The discipline is in doing it every week, in the same order, whether or not anything is on fire.